gary
Forum Replies Created
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I understand. The purpose of the picture is just to show what it looks like inside the case. I never saw the inside of one until one of the BB guys posted this photo and told me to use it on the site as we wish.
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Les, great post.
I owned a 42-foot tag axle 2008 Beaver Contessa with quad slides. It too was built on the Roadmaster 10RR chassis and that coach did ride very well. At less than 20,000 miles I thought it to be more noisey than my 100,000 mile 15 year old Country Coach conversion. Much of this quiter ride I attribute to both Prevost and Country coach. Afterall, they both could contribute to rattles. I shouldn’t discount the fact that a coach with 4 slides is very likely to be more noisey than one without any slides.
My move was really driven by two things. First, and foremost, was my lack of confidence in Caterpillar. Many may know that the 2007 EPA standards drove CAT out of the over-the-road market. With a trip planned to Alaska, other CAT owners convinced me that I was taking a risk that might disrupt months of planned enjoyment. The other thing that drove me to Prevost conversions rather than a traditional coach was perception that the Prevost chassis and Detroit power plant were both near bullet-proof and should afford me years of reliable service. So far that perception has been reality.
As for pricing, there are several factors to consider. When buying a built to your specs conversion I would suggest the converter shouldn’t even bring up the meaningless list price. It should be a long discussion on your wants, their ability to deliver, and finally an agreed value. If the converter is busy, expect to pay more. If you or wife are sitting at the table with gaga eyes, expect to pay more as you have already shown cards.
If you are willing to accept a completed spec coach or one on the line the original buyer has pulled out of, expect to get a better deal. Here the discussion will start with the meaningless list price. The sell price will be influenced by the number of units the converter is sitting on and their cost of floorplan. You could get a much better deal than going down the built to your specs route.
If you don’t mind a nearly new used unit you should drive away with the best value given the biggest hit on value has already occured. This should also result in driving away with all infant mortality issues and other new product repairs done. The only concern I’d have on buying a nearly new used coach is that not many were built so the inventory is low. That limits your ability to get the “right” coach for you. More import with respect to price is that the prices will be higher than expected due to limited availability.
Enjoy your shopping journey and don’t get stuck in over analyzing this stuff. All converters make good products and all converters do things that some of us don’t care for. The net-net is regardless of your chosen converter, I think you will be just as happy as you would have been with another converter. FWIW, I’m not a fan of what I consider needless automation and a converter that does these things to muscle flex their “I’m better than you”. Obviously, this is my opinion and one not shared by most converters.
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Well said Jon.
If you are looking for perfection, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. No coach is perfect.
My wife and I are much more impulse buyers than “research” buyers. Accordingly, over the years we’ve ended up having more fun than money.
And we wouldn’t have it any other way…..
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hello Tom,
I think Gregg is looking at going from double slide to double slide. Is there a difference in slides from H-3 to XL.
Another slide concern to get a better understanding with current owners. I lean towards Prevost factory only but have been told that Valid’s are “autohorized’ by Prevost. Not sure how to take that statement ?
when I was looking at a coach and talked to Prevost in New Jersey, the guy at Prevost said there were 2 types of inspections. One approx $5000, and then one approx $1,1000. His suggestion was the $5000 inspection was the better value and would cover what I wanted to verify. How do experienced owners feel about that suggestion?
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Tom, This is what I will do, and I beleive it will work since you will not order the batteries till April so I can get the discount, I will have Prevost check the battery when I am in service for the slide on March 6th, and then you will know what group the generator battery is when you order them and you can send them down to J-ville and I will stop on my way back to have them installed mid April, Is that a plan that will work? gary
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Don’t be afraid of having an open/ free flow muffler on a 12.7 Detroit. It will be louder, but it will run better. We have done several hundred semi tractors with a free flowing muffler set-up for the 12.7’s and have had very positive results, but you need to know the CFM specs on any muffler you choose. John is absolutely right (as usual) that a more restrictive muffler will adversely effect engine performance. Most factory systems are pretty restrictive because they need to meet dba standards, but the after-market has more latitude. Jake brakes are louder too. Normally, mufflers that have the inlet on the side and out the end or out the other side are not as efficient as mufflers like that little torpedo pictured above. I’m sure that there is very little baffling inside, so it will flow more freely. Noise is reduced in an exhaust system by changing the direction of the flow. A muffler with baffles forces the flow in different directions and therefore reduces the dba levels, but it also increases the resistance. Additionally, try to avoid really sharp angles in the system, as that too, increases resistance. I know that is very difficult to do in the back of a coach. I firmly believe, the last item designed on any motor vehicle is the exhaust system. It ends up being the poor little sister that has to work around everything else.
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On second thought, Liberty replaced all the batteries 4 years ago when I bought the bus, maybe they have a record of what group the generator battery was maybe they know? Gary
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Jon, I had not thought of that but is a good point, Tom has Lifeline got such a battery for the Gen area, thanks gary
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As a former Secaucus boy I wish I was there.
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Jeff posted on another thread about his new coach lifts. For PDI purposes you not only get access under the coach but he said you get a weight readout for each wheel.
That’s very important because knowing your weights not only is an important part of the PDI, you need to know them to determine tire pressures, how you have to load the coach, and why it might be slow to come up to ride height.
So Harry, if you really do want a PDI you can see why you need to take it to folks that have made the investment to set up a shop to do work the proper way. I’ll still stick with my contention if you are buying from Millennium, Marathon or Liberty you won’t need one, but if you are buying from a private individual you do need one.
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Wow.
Now every customer that gets service requiring a lift gets the benefit of a weight readout.
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Well so much for the photo could not get them to load
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It is all coming together and your requests have been helping us finalize the seminar programs.
More details will follow, but you can count on a great seminar session on the Aquahot / Webasto systems. This will be put on by experts from Lazy Days and should be a great session.
We also have a committment from Robert Hitt and Bill Jensen of Prevost Car to do two sessions of what we are calling an “owner’s manual”. The session promises to be a great one covering what we as owners need to know about the Prevost chassis. These two gentlemen are able to field any questions you might have as they present the information you should know.
The remaining seminar session is going to be a round table question and answer format dedicated to conversion questions. This is the session you can bring converter specific questions because our panel will likely be able to answer any questions relating to any conversion.
As we get closer I will continue to provide more specific details regarding the sessions. So if you can plan to attend this great rally. In a while we will have the revised and hopefully the final agenda up on the site. If you have questions or need information, ask the questions here because to kick off the round table seminar we will likely address the most common questions.
Sign up now because March 1st is the end date for reservations. We have a limited number of sites at the Lazy Days campground and Tom and I want us to fill them all. This is a short rally, but it is jam packed with information, activities, and opportunities to meet other Prevost Community members.
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Bill,
Here’s the one’s I ordered. I think I ordered 25. Of which, one had a bad solder joint and 2-3 had the red/black wires backwards. You can’t beat the price. I soldered the leads to the mounting posts for the old bulbs and did not use the connectors shown. The panels are held in place with foam weather stripping. These are not rated for damp locations. I figured for the price, I’d give them a try. I was going to eposy coat the back side of the panels, but figured for a buck a piece I didn’t care. FWIW, 3 will fit in the lens if you really want a lot of light.
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As long as Gil is offering advice on this let’s make sure we are clear on what is happening. You stated originally your COOLANT temp cycles rapidly and the temperature spread and the duration of the temperature swing suggest strongly to at least three of us that it ain’t happening.
The laws of physics are likely to require a substantial amount of heat to be generated by the engine and absorbed by the coolant to accomplish the temperature difference in the allotted time. We just don’t see that happening.
Further if in fact the cycling is due to dash air locking the fan clutch it is the thermostat in the engine cycling, but regardless of whether it is the fan or thermostat controlling the temp the issue is you cannot generator enough heat from the engine to make the coolant temp rise that much in that short a period of time.
The only temperature I have ever seen rise that fast was the coolant temp at the outlet of the transmission retarder. But if your coach does not have a retarder, and if you are not using it while braking or going down a hill then that is not what is being measured.
I cannot understand how intake air temperature creates the wild swings in the coolant temp.